Historic Mills of Connecticut

Companies Associated w/Complex

• Bridgeport Brake Co. ca. 1945-ca. 1953
• Bridgeport Engineering Co. 1917-ca. 1945
• Hubbell, The Electric Heater Co. 1953-Present (2015)
• Toulson and Renesch ca. 1920s
• Westinghouse Electric Mfg. Co. ca. 1920s

Use (Historic)

• Consumer Products, Small Appliances
• Machine Tools, Machinery
• Textiles
• Transportation

Largest Documented Workforce

Unknown.

Historic Narrative

The oldest building associated with the factory complex occupied by Hubbell, The Electric Heater Company since 1953 was originally erected in 1917 for the Bridgeport Engineering Company. The Bridgeport Engineering Company operated as a machine tool and mechanical engineering firm specializing in the production of tools, jibs, and dies used by automobile manufacturers and woodworking plants. During the 1920s, the company shared their Seymour Street factory with the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company and the Toulson and Renesch Company, a yarn manufacturer, however, during the mid-1940s the entire plant had passed to the Bridgeport Brake Company. Hubbell, The Electric Heater Company was originally established by Hans E. Dineson in 1919 as the Aqua Electric Heater Company. Dineson’s firm manufactured electric water heaters and was originally located in a shop on East Washington Avenue in Bridgeport. In 1926 Harvey Hubbell Jr., a Bridgeport industrialist and founder of Hubbell Harvey, Inc., an electrical specialties and machine screw firm, became associated with Dineson’s company and provided the capital to incorporate it as the Electric Heater Company. Hubbell led the firm until 1931, when Dineson reacquired control of the business. The company retained the Hubbell name, yet was generally referenced as The Electric Heater Company. Hubbell, The Electric Heater Company relocated from South Avenue in Bridgeport to Woodend Road in Stratford around 1950, and then from Woodend Road to its present location on Seymour Street in 1953. In 2010, the firm considerably expanded its production capacity by acquiring the Vaughn Manufacturing Corporation of Salisbury, Massachusetts, a producer of cement-lined water heaters. Hubbell, The Electric Heater Company continues to manufacture electric and gas-fired water heaters for civilian and military use in their plant in Stratford and remains a family-owned and operated business.

Number of Existing Buildings

Roughly four (4) primary blocks.

Dates of Construction

1917, 1946, ca. 1953, ca. 1960, ca. 1976.

Architect

n/a

Builder

n/a

Building Type

• Mill
• Warehouse / Production Shed

Architectural Description

The Electric Heater Company factory is comprised of roughly four primary adjoining and freestanding blocks located on the north side of Seymour Street, and at the northeast corner of the intersection of Seymour Street and Bruce Avenue. The plant’s most notable structure is also the oldest, this being a two-and-a-half-story, 150’ x 60’ red brick mill erected in 1917. The building fronts on Seymour Street and is of brick pier construction. It has full-height window bays with large rectangular window openings (these recently reduced in size with brick or concrete block infill), concrete sills, stone lintels, fixed plate glass windows or multi-pane metal sash with hopper-style openings, a corbelled brick cornice, and a flat roof. Paneled brick parapets rise from all four corners of the building. A one-story, 110’ x 90’ red brick block was erected roughly 22’ west of the original factory in 1946. This was enlarged to a total size of 145’ x 137’ and connected with the 1917 block ca. 1953. The addition mimics the details of the 1946 construction and has a concrete foundation, red brick walls, tall rectangular window openings with concrete sills, multi-pane metal sash with hopper-style openings and color-tinted glass, concrete coping, and a flat roof. Further additions to the plant were completed ca. 1960 and ca. 1976. The former consists of a one-story, 138’ x 30’ concrete block addition with a shed roof adjoining the north (rear) elevation of the 1917 block, while the latter is a two-story, 72’ x 60’ metal-frame warehouse with a low-pitch gable roof that stands 20’ west of the 1917 block yet is connected to it by a ground-level passageway.

Exterior Material(s)

• Aluminum Siding or Paneling
• Brick

Structural System(s)

• Load Bearing Masonry
• Structural Steel or Iron

Roof Form

• Flat
• Gable
• Shed

Roof Material

• Asphalt
• EPDM
• Metal
• Tar and Gravel

Power Source

• Electricity

Condition

Good

Condition Notes

The complex is in good condition. The majority of the plant has recently been rehabilitated, however, most of the original windows in the 1917 building have been replaced and the window openings reduced in size. The ca. 1953 block retains its original fenestration.

Specific Location

Two legal parcels (45 Seymour Street and 120 Bruce Avenue) totaling 2.41 acres located on the north side of Seymour Street, and at the northeast corner of the intersection of Seymour Street and Bruce Avenue.

Adjacent To

n/a

Exterior Visible from Public Road?

Yes

Parcel ID / Assessor Record Link

• 20/8/11/7 / Link →
• 20/8/11/13. / Link →

Acreage

2.41

Use (Present)

• Industrial

Form Completed By

Lucas A. Karmazinas

Date

08/04/2015

Bibliography

1. List of Connecticut Manufacturers, 1922, 1924, 1930, 1932.
2. Directory of Connecticut State Manufacturers, 1936, 1939.
3. Industrial Directory of Connecticut, 1947.
4. Register of War Production Facilities in Connecticut, 1951.
5. Map of Fairfield County; Baker, William A., 1854.
6. Sanborn Map Company, 1924, 1949.
7. Bridgeport City Directory, Various editions.
8. History of Bridgeport and Vicinity, 1917.
9. Hubbell Heaters website.